Battlefield Vietnam, released in 2004, moved the setting to the Vietnam War, and was built on a modified Refractor engine with various gameplay improvements, such as firing personal weapons while seated in vehicles.

The 2005 game Battlefield 2 takes place in the modern day, during a fictional war between the United States, China, and the fictional Middle Eastern Coalition (MEC). Despite it requiring numerous software patches due to the large number of bugs and glitches in the game upon its release, it was a commercial success, selling over 2,250,000 copies worldwide, as of July 2006.[52] One expansion pack, Special Forces, and two booster packs, Armored Fury and Euro Force, were also released. A version of the game called Battlefield 2: Modern Combat was released for consoles, with an improved single player mode but more limited online play.

Battlefield 2142 was released in 2006, taking place during a global ice age in the 22nd century. While much of it is graphically similar to Battlefield 2, it introduced a variety of equippable items to unlock and battles between two giant "Titan" airships. Its use of in-game advertising was controversial among players.[53] The Northern Strike booster pack was later released, including new maps, vehicles, and a new game mode.

Battlefield: Bad Company, released in 2008, followed the infamous "B" Company's AWOL escapades and their search for mercenary gold. This new, modern day Battlefield game had modern day weapons, as well as a variety of vehicles for land, air and sea. It had a remarkably realistic destruction system that allowed the player to break, destroy, or create new environments, based on a new next generation gaming engine named Frostbite.

In 2010, a direct sequel to Battlefield: Bad Company, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, was released, involving "B" Company's search for an EMP weapon (called a scalar weapon ingame). It had a larger, and arguably better multiplayer than its predecessor "Bad Company", with updated graphics and new realistic effects (e.g. bullet-drop). It also featured a "VIP" system of content distribution where player with VIP codes gain free access to new maps released periodically. DICE also released an expansion for Bad Company 2, Battlefield: Bad Company 2: Vietnam.

Battlefield 3 was announced in 2009,[55][56] and in 2010 it was confirmed that gamers who pre-orderedMedal of Honor (2010) Limited Edition or who pre-ordered from origin (in the U.S. only) would receive beta access to Battlefield 3 48 hours before the open beta was released. On February 4, 2011, the first teaser trailer for the game was revealed, with a preliminary release in the Fall of 2011.[57] Among the features that remain in the game are Jets and the ability to go prone. The game still allows 64 (on the PC) players as in all previous Battlefield titles, though the consoles allow for 24 player matches. The Battlefield 3 Beta was released on September 29, 2011.[58]Battlefield 3 was released on October 25, 2011 and has received almost unanimous high review scores and has received awards from IGN.

On November 5, 2010, EASY Studios announced a follow-up to its free-to-play Battlefield Heroes, Battlefield Play4Free. EASY develops the free-to-play variants of Battlefield. Its latest offering gives players the same free-to-play pricing structure of Heroes, while still offering a more serious, core Battlefield experience (as opposed to Heroes '​ lighthearted, cartoon-styled environment).[59]Battlefield Play4Free went into open beta on April 4, 2011.[60]

On July 17, 2012, an advertisement appeared on EA's Origin webpage that players who pre-order Medal of Honor: Warfighter, would receive access to an exclusive Battlefield 4 Beta. Battlefield 4 was announced on March 26, 2013. A Beta for the game begin in October 1 and ended in October 15. It was released on October 29, 2013.

Information about the next entry in the series, Battlefield: Hardline, was leaked on May 27, 2014, and officially unveiled on June 9, 2014, during E3. The game is being developed by Visceral Games and, unlike previous installments in the franchise, is centered around a police theme.

Battlefield series games usually focus on large, online multiplayer battles, but the series will contain a new Cops-vs-Robbers theme with the release of Battlefield Hardline. This new title will likely not have nearly the emphasis on piloting vehicles as previous titles have, yet there will still be a number of vehicles as well as team-based infantry combat. Playing in squads has also become a major element of games in the series.

Since Battlefield 2, all games in the series centrally record online statistics for each player allowing the players to receive rank promotions and weapon unlocks based on their statistics as well as awards such as medals, ribbons and pins.

A class system has been present within all the Battlefield games. Each class features a different type of primary weapon along with different equipment, differentiating roles on the battlefield.

The ability to melee other players with a knife has always been present in Battlefield games. Also since Battlefield 2142, the series has included an award of dog tags for each player killed using a knife.[61]